# 1985 Dorset County Council election

Elections to Dorset County Council were held on Thursday, 2 May 1985. The whole council was up for election with the number of members to be elected reducing from 91 to 77. The result was that the Conservatives retained their control, winning 42 seats, a loss of 11. The Alliance of Liberals and SDP gained 10 seats to finish with 16. Labour lost 7 seats to finish with 4. 5 others were elected, down 6.

## Election result by division

Source:
Members of the old council *

### North Dorset (11 seats)

Blackmore Vale :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | G. 'Joe' Rose | 1,498 | 48.7 | n/a |
| | Conservative | G Pitt-Rivers* | 1,434 | 46.6 | −30.8 |
| | Labour | D Wardleworth | 147 | 4.8 | −17.8 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 2.1 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 50.0 | +6.8 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +39.7 | |
Blandford :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Barrie Cooper | 1,237 | 49.1 | n/a |
| | Conservative | F Nightingale* | 893 | 35.5 | −5.1 |
| | Labour | Hadyn White | 389 | 15.4 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 13.7 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 39.6 | +4.4 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | +27.1 | |
Colehill :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | B Morden | 1,439 | 51.8 |
| | Liberal | P Bartlett | 1,133 | 40.8 |
| | Labour | R Pitman | 204 | 7.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 11.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 39.0 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Cranborne Chase :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Alan Humphries | 1,242 | 51.4 |
| | Conservative | H Swatridge | 1,047 | 43.3 |
| | Labour | J Allen | 127 | 5.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 8.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 43.8 |
| | Liberal hold | Liberal hold | Swing | |
Gillingham :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | R Bircumshaw | 1,478 | 55.8 |
| | SDP | D Lawrence | 960 | 36.2 |
| | Labour | J Hanley | 213 | 8.0 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 2.6 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 44.6 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Hambledon :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | C Mitchell* | 1,352 | 47.7 | |
| | Liberal | P Hamilton | 1,279 | 45.2 | n/a |
| | Labour | W Kingswell | 201 | 7.1 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 2.6 | n/a |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 44.9 | n/a |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | n/a | |
Corfe Mullen :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | SDP | S Goss-Custard | 1,370 | 48.0 | +16.6 |
| | Conservative | M Guarella* | 1,225 | 43.0 | −25.6 |
| | Labour | L Shooter | 257 | 9.0 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 5.1 | 42.2 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 40.6 | +5.2 |
| | SDP gain from Conservative | SDP gain from Conservative | Swing | +21.1 | |
Lytchett :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | C Lees | 1,377 | 49.9 |
| | Liberal | M Wilkins | 987 | 35.8 |
| | Labour | D Barker | 395 | 14.3 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 14.1 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 37.2 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | |
Minster :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | SDP | P Hymers | 1,306 | 48.6 |
| | Conservative | A Wright* | 1,117 | 41.6 |
| | Labour | G White | 265 | 9.9 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 7.0 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 41.6 |
| | SDP gain from Conservative | SDP gain from Conservative | Swing | |
Shaftesbury :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | G Hine | 1,540 | 49.9 | +5.6 |
| | Liberal | Audrey Perry* | 1,325 | 42.9 | −12.8 |
| | Labour | K Davies | 221 | 7.2 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 7.0 | 18.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 45.8 | −5.7 |
| | Conservative gain from Liberal | Conservative gain from Liberal | Swing | +9.2 | |
Winterborne :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Conservative | D Jones* | 1,430 | 54.2 | |
| | SDP | L Dean | 861 | 32.7 | n/a |
| | Labour | J Fox | 346 | 13.1 | n/a |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | | 21.6 | n/a |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 39.8 | n/a |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing | n/a | |